The Late Movies: The First 7 Videos on MTV

MTV turns 31 today. It launched one minute past midnight on August 1, 1981, with footage of Space Shuttle Columbia and Apollo 11 launches, then the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack, one of the creators of MTV. An extended version of the MTV theme riff played, and then we were treated to the first set of music videos on MTV. Tonight, let's remember those early music videos by watching them. In order. First up, here's that intro bit:

0. "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll."

The first minute of MTV.

1. The Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star"

"They took the credit for your second symphony / rewritten by machine and new technology / and now I understand the problems you can see." Little-known trivia: the first video on MTV was a cover song. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was originally recorded by Woolley and The Camera Club (featuring keyboards by Thomas Dolby); you can hear the original along with some commentary. But this, right here, is the first video on MTV: